Heddle bar hanger



Patented Apr. 14, 1953 HEDDLE BAR HANGER Paul C. Consoletti, Milford,Mass., assignor to Draper Corporation, Hopedale, Mass., a corporation ofMaine Application October 1,1951, Serial No. 249,110

4 Claims. 1

This invention pertains to improvements in harness frames for looms, andmore specifically, improvements relating to that type of harness framein which the heddle bars are suspended upon hangers which in turn areslidable upon and are mounted for support upon auxiliary supporting rodswhich are carried by the harness frame rails.

It is a general object of the invention to improve harness mechanisms sothat the hangers upon which the heddle bars are suspended may be sodevised as to be snapped into or from position without disturbing eitherthe heddles, the bars upon which they are carried, or the auxiliarysupporting rods from which the hangers depend, and along which they areslidable as is required for assembly and for slight movement of heddlesalong the frame incidental to the weaving function.

It is a more specific object of the invention to devise heddle barhangers which may quickly be snapped into or from position on theauxiliary supporting rods and which shall at the same time, be extremelysimple in construction, economically manufactured and which shall alsobe rugged in construction and certain in operation so that they mayserve for an extended period of time without attention or likelihood offailure in performing their intended function.

- In more commonly used types of harness frames, the general framestructure which includes top and'bottom rails either made from wood orfrom some other material such asone of the lighter alloy metals and endstruts is supplemented by a pair of heddle bars which may be removedfrom the frame after releasing the ends thereof, and upon which thenumerous heddles are threaded and supported. These heddles are free tomove along the length of the frame, at least for a limited extent. Ofcourse, these heddles may be removed or others added 'by releasing oneend of the bars and sliding them to a position where the heddles may beremoved from or threaded onto the bars. These bars are normallysuspended or have additional support along their length as well as atthe ends, which intermediate support is afforded by certain hangers,sometimes called slide hooks, these having taken various conformationsand in some instances being carried upon and slidable along what aregenerally known as auxiliary supporting rods which in turn are carriedby the .top and bottom rails. It is most frequently the prac tice tohave these rods movable lengthwise in certain eyed threaded elementswhich are fas- 'tened into the wood or other material from which therails have been made.

In all of the constructions which have been employed in practical use,the method of assembly of the bar hangers as well as of the heddlesthemselves has involved threading the same onto the supplementalsupporting rods, although the,

bars themselves are carried Within open ended slots or notches. As aconsequence, the removal of a hanger or repositioning thereof hasnecessitated drawing the auxiliary supporting rodsendwise until theparticular hanger or hangers the position of which is to be altered havebeen released. Naturally this involves considerable time and effort, andin so doing, the likelihood that the heddle bars and heddles themselvesmay get out of control becomes fairly great. That is more probable ifthe heddles themselves are of the type to be hooked over the bars ratherthan threaded along the length thereof.

Accordingly, the improved hanger herein described and claimed is adaptedto be snapped into and from position on the auxiliary supportingrodwithout disturbing any of the other parts and without any likelihood ofmispositioning or unintended release of the heddles or other ele mentswhich are involved. While the prior art shows some hangers which may beassembled or removed while the other parts are in place, no

one of them has, so far as applicantis aware, been introduced intocommercial practice. According to the instant invention, hangerscomprised of bent, hardened strip steel or other appropriate materialare so formed and are so provided with locking slots which, however,permit the snapping of the parts into place, that the desirable resultsforthcoming recommend the use of this device which is adapted to serveunder all circumstances and which contributes to the saving of a greatdeal of time as will hereinafter be apparent. In addition theseimprovedhangers are less expensive.

The invention will be described by reference to the accompanying figuresof drawing wherein: Fig. 1 is an elevational view showing a harnessframe to which the invention has been applied.

Fig. 2 is an isometric view illustrating the manner in which a hangerconstructed in accordance with. the invention is employed.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view showing the manner in which one of thehangers is snapped into or Fig. is a detail view of another modificationthereof.

Now referring to Fig. 1, the harness frame is comprised of a top railII], a bottom rail H, and

end struts I2 and I 3. These are attached in such a manner as to providethe usual rigid framework within which is carried a plurality of heddlesI4 which may take any of the well known forms common to these parts. Asillustrated in Fig. 2, one type of heddle which may be employed has eyesor loops at either end which are adapted to be threaded onto the heddlebars I5 and I6, one at the top and the other at the lower part of theframe. These bars pass through the end struts I2 and I3 and projectbeyond a short extent having in that projecting portion of the bar anopening or drilled hole within which engages the hooked or latching endof a wire latch member ii, there being oneof these at each end of eachof the bars. The bars thus supported at the ends are'spaced so that theheddles may slide along them, but they must necessarily .be supportedintermediate their ends at several points and for that purpose theheddle bar hangers generally indicated by numeral I8 are provided. Thesehangers are in turn suspended from top and bottom auxiliary supportingrods I9 and which arethreaded through eyes or openings at the ends ofshort threaded mexnbers or screw eyes 2!. There are several of these foreach of the rods and they are suitably spaced so as to support the rodsin a relatively rigid manner.

Now referring to Fig. 2, each of the hangers I 8 is of what may betermed a three-armed construction, the vertical or bar-supporting armindicated by numeral 22 preferably being of double thickness and hookedor openly slotted adjacent its free end as shown so as to permit theentry of the bar l5 or Iiias the case may be. The open slot terminatesat one sidein the hooked end-23 which preferably extends part way alongthe width of the bar and at the other side in a shoulder 24, thedimensions of the slot or notch as compared to those of the bar beingsuch that the'bar may be snapped into position with relative case, butonce the parts have been assembled, may not rise beyond the shoulder 24thereby to become accidentally and unintendedly released.

. The other arms 25 and 26 are oppositely directed and may b consideredas wings which are an'gularly bent away from the central. arm 22. Theseare also bent attheir ends as at 2'! and 28, the-said bent ends beingnotched as at 29 and 3B, which notches are deep enough and wide enoughto accommodate one of the auxiliary supporting rods I9 or 20.

In addition to the notches 29 and 30, the central or bar suspending arm22 and also the oppositely directedarms or wings 25 and 26 are recessedor notched as illustrated at 3I and 32 so that the bar in passingthrough notches 29 and may also pass through these centrally disposednotches 3| and 32. Once the parts have been assembled as they arein'Fig. 2, the hanger may slide freely along the length of the rod I 9and'also along the bar I5; the sliding movement being'nece'ssary afterassembly and upon; starting the loom since it is not likely that theposition 'o'f'the hanger will be precisely that which it should occupyonce the loom has started. The

free-'s'lidability lengthwise makes 'it possible for the heddles toassume their natural position incidental tothe weaving function and; asa matter 4 of fact, after repairing a warp thread at which time heddlesare moved endwise and the adjacent hanger or hangers also movedsimilarly, the parts will always return to their natural position justas soon as the loom is started and the harness mechanism moves theharness frame throughout one or more of its cycles.

In Fig. 3 the rod and a bar have been shown in position and the mannerin which the parts are assembled has been schematically illustrated. Thebar I5 or IE as the case may be, is first hooked into the open slot inthe arm or bar suspending portion and the opposed wing portions 25 and25 are then applied to the auxiliary supporting rod adjacent the bar byfirst hooking one notch, either 29 or 30, over the rod, then springingthe opposite wing portion upwardly as illustrated in the dot-and-dashlines, Fig. 3, so that the rod will enter the recesses 3| and 32whereupon that flexed or bent wing portion may be moved to a positionsuch that the notch therein at the down turned or bent end may bealigned with the rod. As the flexed member is released it will springinto the position shown in full lines whereupon the hanger will havebeen completely engaged with the bar and with the rod and may not becomedisengaged except by a reversal of the process which requires thepositive and intended flexing of one of the wings 25 or 26 to disengageits notch 29 or 3-0 from the rod after which the hanger may be removedfrom the rod .and then from the bar.

Once the parts are fully assembled they are relatively freely or looselymounted, and although they may not become unintendedly released ordisassembled, the hanger may be slid along the length of the rod and thesuspended bar as required.

In the form of the invention just above described it iscontemplated thatthe hanger be formed of. two identical parts which are reversely bentand then welded or otherwise attached together thereby to form a unitarystructure. According to a second mode of manufacture, a single strip ofmaterial may be employed and bent as illustrated in Fig. 4 so that thereshall b? no need for welding or other interconnecting s eps.

A still difierent form has been illustrated in Fig. 5, the method of.stamping out the strip and the bending thereof being substantiallysimilar except that at the lower end of the central or bar connectingmember, the bend has not been nearly so pronounced and thus, thepossibility of breakage'at that point may be substantially eliminated.In these Fi s. 4 and 5 the parts have been indicated by similarreference numerals as employed when describing the form of the inventionillustrated in Fig. 2 except that these numerals have been supplementedby primes and double primes as shown. 7

It'is obvious that the direction of pull upon the members at the lowerside of the frame is opposite to that at the top, however, theprinciples of operation and mode of assembly are precisely the same, andin the specification and claims, the statement of terminology withreference to the bar being suspended from the auxiliary supporting rodis to be interpreted broadly enough to include the reversal of directionof forces at the lower as compared to thoseat the upper part of theframe. It is evident that the assembly of the hangers may beaccomplished by hooking them toward the front or toward the back. Thereis no-lrea'son why, if desired/the recesses 3| and 32 may not be opentoward the opposite side of the hanger, although it is more preferablethat the open end of these recesses be directed in the same generaldirection or toward the same side of the unit toward which the notchinto which bar 15 is received is opened.

The material from which these hangers may be made is preferably a goodquality of strip steel which may be hardened so as to resist wear andalso which shall have sufiicient resilience or spring characteristics sothat the flexing of the parts incidental to assembly may be accomplishedwith relative ease along with sumcient resistance against flexure sothat the parts may not become detached unintendedly. The material itselfmay be of a rust resistant nature, or may be subjected to any of theprocesses adapted to render it resistant to corrosion.

The term downturned as applied to the ends 2'! and 28 should be relatedto the central or bar supporting arm and, of course, is turned in thedirection toward which that central arm projects, although for the topand bottom hangers the relationship in general is reversed.

The term notches has been used in both the specification and claims todenote that means which defines the openings 29, 30, 3| and 32. Theseare true notches in the sense that they are open at one end andtherefore permit the assembly and disassembly of the parts as described.

While one preferred embodiment and certain modifications have beendisclosed, it is to be understood that the inventive concept may becarried out in a number of ways. The invention is, therefore, not to belimited to the precise details described, but is intended to embrace allvariations and modifications thereof falling within the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. For a loom harness frame of the type having heddle bars upon whichthe heddles are slidably mounted and auxiliary supporting rods fromwhich said heddle bars are suspended, an improved heddle bar hangerwhich comprises a three armed member one arm of which is slotted toreceive the heddle bar and the other two arms of which are resilient andprovide for releasable engagement with the auxiliary bar and comprisebent outer ends, a notch in each said bent outer end engageable with theauxiliary bar, other notches centrally disposed and aligned with saidnotches in said bent outer ends, the open ends of the said other notchesbeing disposed at right angles to the open ends of the notches in thebent outer ends.

2. For a loom harness frame of the type having heddle bars upon whichthe heddles are slidably mounted and auxiliary supporting rods fromwhich said heddle bars are suspended, an improved heddle bar hangerwhich comprises a three armed member one arm of which is slotted toreceive the heddle bar and the other two arms of which are resilient andprovide for releasable engagement with the auxiliary bar and comprisebent outer ends, a notch, vertically disposed as the frame is employed,in each said bent outer end engageable with the auxiliary bar, othernotches centrally disposed and aligned with said notches in said bentouter ends, the open ends of the said other notches being laterallydis-posed as compared to the said vertically disposed notches.

3. For a loom harness frame of the type having heddle bars upon whichthe heddles are slidably mounted and auxiliary supporting rods fromwhich said heddle bars are suspended, an improved heddle bar hangerwhich comprises wing members disposed along and adapted to engage thesaid rods and a centrally disposed bar suspending portion atright anglesto the wing members, said bar suspending portion having a hooked end forengagement of the bar, said wing members being resilient and having bentouter ends, a notch in each said bent outer end engageable with theauxiliary bar, other notches centrally disposed and aligned with saidnotches in said bent outer ends, the open ends of the said other notchesbeing disposed at right angles to the open ends of the notches in thebent outer ends.

4. For a loom harness frame of the type having heddle bars upon whichthe heddles are slidably mounted and auxiliary supporting rods fromwhich said heddle bars are suspended, an im proved heddle bar hangerwhich comprises wing members disposed along and adapted to engage thesaid rods and a centrally disposed bar suspending portion at rightangles to the wing members, said bar suspending portion having a hookedend for engagement of the bar, said wing members being resilient andhaving bent outer ends, a notch, vertically disposed as the frame isemployed, in each said bent outer end engageable with the auxiliary bar,other notches centrally disposed and aligned with said notches in saidbent outer ends, the open ends of the said other notches being laterallydisposed as compared to the said vertically disposed notches.

PAUL C. CONSOLETTI.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,206,844 Kaufmann July 2, 1940 2,252,183 Kaufmann Aug. 12,1941 2,584,585 Hollingsworth Feb. 5, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 271,892 Switzerland Feb. 16, 1951

